Brits love bananas and berries

Bananas have remained the top-purchased produce in 2017 by Asda customers, whilst raspberries, blueberries and strawberries have seen the greatest rise in popularity and became three of the best-selling produce of the year. In 2017, Asda customers ate their way through 15,000 tonnes of strawberries, thanks to a bumper year for British berries and a movement away from hard fruit.

Classic staples such as carrots and broccoli were still popular, but Brits also introduced a variety of new fruit & veg products to their shopping trolleys, including spring onions, clementines, blueberries and raspberries.

Ian Harrison, our Produce Technical Director, comments: “The soft-fruit sector has grown extremely quickly over the last year, driven by incredible growth in berries. Whilst staple items such as apples and potatoes are still being eaten, customers are varying their diets a lot more and becoming more experimental, using a wider range of fruit & veg in their repertoire.

“This year, we expect to see berries continuing to rise in popularity, with blueberries tipped to see the biggest uplift, with Asda continuing to introduce new varieties to keep-up with consumer demand for sweeter berries. Non-meat alternatives such as cauliflower and butternut squash will also be placed more frequently in customer’s baskets as more of us opt for flexitarian and vegetarian diets.”

Find out more about the nation's top fruit and vegetables.

For more information:
www.ipl-ltd.com